West Cook County Towns' Water Slightly Over The Limit For Lead

August 04, 1995

Residents of 17 communities in west Cook County may want to have their tap water tested for lead-or at least let the water run a bit before using it for drinking or cooking-in the wake of recent municipal water departments' findings.

Water sampling tests performed recently in Bellwood, Berkeley, Berwyn, Brookfield, Elmwood Park, La Grange Park, Lyons, Maywood, Melrose Park, North Riverside, River Forest, River Grove, Riverside, Schiller Park, Stickney, Summit and Westchester indicated that while most homes tested had very low levels of lead, more than 10 percent exceeded acceptable levels set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The sampling tests were prompted by new federal standards for lead levels in drinking water. Acceptable USEPA lead levels are 15 parts per billion, or 0.015 milligrams of lead per liter of water.